WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) - What started as a small act of compassion by a young girl has turned into a lifelong dream come true to save as many animals as possible.
Growing up in Fort Worth, Carole Sanders’ love for animals began early with her first dog, Pepper, a Dalmatian given to her by her aunt and uncle.
Pepper died when Sanders was 13 and after that she often asked her mother to let her keep one of the many dogs she saw abandoned on the side of the road.
“I’d beg my mom to let me keep them, but she didn’t let me. She said, ’When you grow up, you can save as many animals as you want,’” Sanders remembers.
Sanders went on to a fulfilling 40-year career as an American Airlines flight attendant, but she never abandoned her dream to save animals.
“Every time driving back from DFW I would see stray animals and I’d pick them up and take them home,” she told the Wichita Falls Times Record News (https://bit.ly/1ORS8Iy).
She took in animals from all over the country, flying them home with her on return trips.
After maxing out patience of landlords and neighbors with her growing menagerie of dogs, cats, turtles and other creatures, Sanders went in search of more land, finally settling on a 20-acre spot north of Jacksboro full of trees, rolling hills and endless possibilities.
Sanders pooled her retirement funds with the help of donors and a handful of volunteers and established Animal Angels Rescue, Rehabilitation, Adoption and Sanctuary as a 501 (copyright)3 nonprofit in June 1993.
Angels was the first domestic-animal sanctuary certified through the American Sanctuary Association.
After acquiring an additional 18 acres, the sanctuary is now home to 10 horses and nearly 300 dogs.
Nita Burgoon, a longtime friend of Sanders who had been living in Denton, joined her at the ranch and other volunteers have come and gone along the way.
Sanders and Burgoon realized the hardship of keeping a nonprofit going after the death of its founder so they searched for a successor to carry on the mission.
While Sanders was working with Operation Kindness, another animal group, she met Beth Kelley.
“She’s the spit out of my mouth,” Sanders said of Kelley, meaning they are alike in many ways.
Kelley, an “Army brat” is a lifelong animal lover as well. While living in upstate New York she organized rescue teams for sea creatures that had washed up on the beach. Later she served as the animal care manager with Wayne County for seven years.
Kelley was impressed with the work Sanders and Burgoon were doing and decided to take a look at the sanctuary.
“And I’ve been here ever since. I’m in it for life,” Kelley said.
Kelley, husband Matt, and their three children, Madison, 11, Duncan, 9, and Lilly, 7, all came to live at the ranch about six years ago.
While her immediate family is supportive and they all help around the ranch, sometimes her extended family does not understand why she would want to live this way.
The life isn’t for everyone Sanders, Burgoon and Kelley all agree. Taking care of more than 300 animals means working everyday - no vacation, no weekends, no holidays.
But Kelley said that like the animals they rescue, each of the volunteers endured a journey to get to where they are meant to be - here at the sanctuary.
Every dog receives a name, is spayed/neutered, vetted, monitored and cared for.
Monthly, the ranch goes through about 9,000 pounds of dog food and four round bales of hay for the horses.
When they began the nonprofit Sanders figured each dog had a lifespan of maybe 10 years once it reached the sanctuary.
A few years later, the dogs were thriving and living even longer than they imagined.
The figure was bumped up to 15 years for each dog and the women vow to care for each animal for as long as it lives.
They have dogs large and small, young and old, healthy and injured.
Some dogs are missing a leg, were shot, hit by a car, missing teeth, or were found after walking countless miles of lonely highway. All are equally loved.
There is a swimming pool for the dogs, stock tanks and many shelters and dog houses scattered across the land.
Since their beginning around 1992, Sanders said they have probably helped 3,000-4,000 dogs.
Kelley said they have seen fewer abandoned animals in recent years and she credits that in part to an effort to stress the importance of spaying/neutering animals.
Animal Angels has maintained a steady base of generous people throughout the years, but in the near future Kelley said they will need support from the next generation of donors.
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Information from: Wichita Falls Times Record News, https://www.timesrecordnews.com
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